Constitution Day Lecture by Roberta Kaplan

17 Sep 2014

Warren Wilson College is celebrating U.S. Constitution Day 2014 on Sept. 17 with a lecture by attorney Roberta A. Kaplan. The lecture, free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in Kittredge Theatre, at the North Entrance to the Warren Wilson campus.

Kaplan successfully argued pro bono for her client Edie Windsor in United States v. Windsor, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2012. In its decision the high court ruled unconstitutional the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) barring same-sex couples from enjoying the range of marriage benefits conferred by federal law. The ruling held that the provision violated the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Kaplan is a partner in the litigation department of the firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP of New York City and other locations. She has been selected as one of The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America and as 2013 Lawyer of the Year by the legal website abovethelaw.com. She holds degrees from Harvard University and Columbia Law School, where she also is adjunct professor of law.

The Kaplan talk also is part of the Warren Wilson College 2014-15 Spotlight Series of nationally and internationally known speakers. The theme of the series for this academic year is “Social and Intellectual Movements.”

The annual Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. For more information about Roberta Kaplan’s Constitution Day lecture at Warren Wilson, call 828-771-2083.